Cadillac names Zhou Guanyu as reserve driver for 2026 F1 debut

Cadillac announced Zhou Guanyu as its reserve driver ahead of its debut Formula 1 season. Zhou raced for Alfa Romeo and Kick Sauber from 2022 to 2024, starting 68 grands prix and scoring points seven times, including on his debut in Bahrain in 2022, Formula1.com reported. He is China's first and so far only F1 driver. He spent 2025 as a Ferrari reserve, carrying out trackside and simulator work and taking part in Ferrari's Testing of Previous Cars programme.

Team principal Graeme Lowdon told Formula1.com that Cadillac put "a lot of emphasis on experience and driver experience" across its line-up. He said Zhou's year at Ferrari counted because Ferrari supplies Cadillac's power unit and gearbox in 2026. Lowdon also cited Zhou's relationship with Bottas, his former Sauber team mate.

An experienced line-up

Cadillac's race drivers are Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas. Perez has 285 starts and six wins; Bottas has 247 starts and 10 wins, according to Autoevolution. Colton Herta, a former IndyCar racer, is test driver, and Pietro Fittipaldi, a former Haas reserve, is among the development drivers, Formula1.com reported.

The FIA's 2026 entry list names the team's registered company as TWG Cadillac Formula 1 Team LLC and lists its chassis as Cadillac and its power unit as Ferrari. The list carries 11 teams and 22 drivers. Cadillac is one of them, alongside McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull.

Ferrari now, GM from 2029

Ferrari will supply Cadillac's power unit for its first three seasons, Sky Sports reported. From 2029 the team is due to run a General Motors power unit after the FIA approved GM Performance Power Units LLC as a supplier. That would put six manufacturers in the championship, alongside Ferrari, Mercedes, Honda, Red Bull Ford and Audi.

Russ O'Blenes, chief executive of the entry, said the approval would let the project "continue to accelerate our efforts to bring an American-built F1 power unit to the grid". FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem said it "marks another step in the global expansion of Formula 1" and pointed to interest from world-class manufacturers.

How the entry was approved

Cadillac's entry took several years to secure. Michael Andretti told Forbes in January 2023 that rival teams' resistance was "all about greed" and about diluted prize money, Sky Sports reported. Liberty Media rejected the entry in early 2024, and Andretti left the project that September; the entry was accepted in 2025 under Dan Towriss's leadership, Autoevolution reported.

Andretti argued at the time that the GM and Cadillac tie-up filled the one box the bid had left empty, a manufacturer behind it. Cadillac now enters a championship with 11 teams and 22 drivers, and with a new set of technical regulations that Sky Sports said are likely to shake up the pecking order.